Safety system for skier&#39;s shoes

ABSTRACT

1,027,517. Ski bindings. L. LACHENAL, D. LACHENAL and A. GROMELLE. July 1,1964 [July 12, 1963], No. 27082/64. Heading A6D. A safety release ski binding operative upon the heel of the skiers boot to normally urge the boot into engagement with a toe clamp provided on the ski, comprises a support 2 rigidly fixed to the ski and provided with a spindle 4, on approximately U-shaped member 5 having its free ends pivoted on spindle 4 and adapted to engage the boot heel with its bridge piece, a spring-controlled arm 7 also pivoted on spindle 4 and having projections 8 at its front end and a hook 9 at its rear end, and a lever 18 pivoted at 19 on the member 5 and formed with two projections 20 adapted in the operative position of the binding to engage the projections 8 on the arm 7. The arm 7 is under the control of two adjustable springs 14 mounted on the limbs 12 of a U-shaped stirrup 10,12 engaging with the hook 9 of the arm. When the upward force on the boot heel (transferred to projections 8 via members 5 and 18) exceeds the influence of the springs, the member 7 pivots about spindle 4 to release the boot heel. A bolt 17 bearing against the member 7 is adjustable to vary height at which projections 8 and 20 engage, to accommodate boot heels of different thicknesses.

Dec. 13', 1966 A. L. J. ARTRU SAFETY SYSTEM FOR SKIER'S SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 50, 1964 HrrY- Dec; 13, 1966 A. L. J. ARTRU 3,291,499

SAFETY SYSTEM FOR SKIERS SHOES Filed June 30, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v [7 Fl (3.4

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INVENTORQ Amp/e5 A. J A arm) 3,291,499 @AFETY SYSTEM FUR SJKHLRS SHGES Andre Lucien Jean Artru, Lyon, France, assignor to Louis Lacheual, Dominique Lachenal, and Andre Gromelle Fiied June 3%, 1964, Ser. No, 379,956 Claims priority, application France, July 12, 1963, 43,334, Patent 1,386,233 4 Qiairns. (Cl. 28ti1l1.35)

Skiers shoes are generally positioned and secured on the ski through the agency of two parts, to wit, on the one hand a stirrup or abutment acting on the tip of the shoe and, on the other hand, tensioning means acting on the heel. The lever controlling the tensioning means is generally arranged to the front of the stirrup or abutment and it exerts the tractional stress required on a cable passing behind the heel of the shoe in order to firmly hold the latter on the ski. Said tractional stress is necessarily large and is applied on the rear side of the heel in a direction which is more or less oblique with reference to the general plane of the ski and this has several drawbacks, inter alia:

A speedy deformation of the cable connected with the tensioning means,

A fairly frequent deformation of the skiers shoe in spite of the reinforcement that the shoe sole may incorporate,

An irregular operation of the safety stirrup or abutment, the features concerning the rotation of the abutment or the opening of the stirrups being, as a matter of fact, modified by any modifications in the tensioniug of the cable.

In order to remove these drawbacks, it has been proposed to combine the abutment or the stirrups engaging the front end of the shoe with means holding both the shoe heel securely on the ski and the front end of the shoe in contact with the abutment or stirrups. None of said latter arrangements allows however releasing the skiers foot in the case of the skier falling forwardly, whereas such a release is allowed by the conventional safety tensioning means located to the front of the abutnent or of the stirrups.

My invention removes these drawbacks and has for its object an arrangement which, although it does not act after the manner of conventional tensionmg means, will be designated hereinafter as a tensioning means for sake of clarity, said tensioning means holding the shoe heel on the ski, while urging the tip of the shoe into engagement with the abutment or the stirrups and allowing the release of the shoe in the case of the skier falling forwardly.

The engagement with the heel is obtained to this end by means of a strap which is pivotally secured to a support rigid with the ski and pivotally carries a control lever cooperating with at least one securing member the position of which is defined by at least one spring of an adjustable power. Thus, when a vertical stress exerted upwardly on said strap by the edge of the shoe heel rises beyond a predetermined limit value, said strap is shifted upwardly and carries along with it the control lever and the securing member, said shifting corresponding to an angular movement such that it cuts out any contact between the strap and the shoe which is consequently released.

According to a preferred embodiment of said tensioning means, a hood-shaped support rigid with the ski carries a transverse horizontal spindle to which are pivotally secured the strap engaging the shoe heel and an arm the rear end of which is pivotally coupled with a stirrup the sides of which extend through the rear surface of said support and are provided beyond said surface with threads adapt-ed to be engaged by nuts permanently engaging said rear surface of the support, while the front end of said ited States Patent M Patented Dec. E3, 1965 arm carries two projections engaging two corresponding projections on the control lever pivotally secured to the same transverse spindle as the heel-engaging strap.

In the acompanying drawing illustrating said preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the arrangement when positioned on a ski and ready for operation,

FIGS. 2 and 3 are, on an enlarged scale, respectively a side eilevational view and a view from above of the said. arrangement,

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional views through line 44 of FIG. 3 of the said arrangement respectively in its open position, in its closed position and in its shoe-releasing position,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are transverse sectional views respectively through lines 7-7 and 88 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of a part of the control lever.

In said drawings, 2 designates a hood-shaped support secured to the ski and including a forward extension forming a guide 3 engaging both sides of the shoe so as to allow positioning the heel of the shoe on the ski.

Said support 2 carries a horizontal transverse spindle 4 to which is pivotally secured a heel grip or strap 5 of which the front end has an arcuate outline and is provided with a shoulder so as to allow it to engage the upper rear edge of the shoe heel, which edge is advantageously protected by a metal plate s.

To the spindle d pivotally carried by the support 2 is also pivotally secured an arm 7 of which the front end carries two projections 8 while its rear end forms a hook 9 adapted to engage the transverse section it) of a stirrupshaped member iii-l2 including two legs 12 extending rearwardly and passing freely through the rear surface of the support 2, the rear ends 13 of said legs being threaded. Two helical springs lid surround coaxially the corresponding legs 12, one end of each spring bearing continuously against the rear surface of the support 2 whereas its other end engages a movable plate 15 through which the two legs 12 of the stirrup extend, said plate being held in position on said legs by two nuts 16 screwed over the threaded leg sections 13. The plate 15 is also provided with an opening through which a longitudinal rod 17 extends freely, said rod being screwed into the support 2 and serving as an abutment for the arm 7 at the end of its travel, said arm 7 being urged against said abutment rod 17 by the springs i i with the interposition of the stirrup 1642. By screwing said abutment rod to a more or less considerable extent into the support 2, the position of the arm 7 when inoperative and consequently that of the projections it on the latter is modified. This allows adjusting readily the height H (FIG. 5) at which the heel is held fast by the strap 5 in accordance with the actual thickness of the shoe heel of the skier.

The rear end of the strap 5 engaging the heel forms a fork which provides not only for the passage and guidance of the arm 7, but also allows the passage of the rear- Wardly directed control lever 18 which is pivotally secured to the strap 5' around the horizontal spindle ll).

The lever 13 includes an extension directed first downwardly beyond the spindle 1'9 and then forwardly so as to form two projections 2% adapted to cooperate with the two projections 8 on the arm 7 (FIGS. 2 and 9).

When the tensioning means are open, they occupy the position illustrated in EEG. 4 in which position the strap 5 slopes upwardly while the control lever .18 is depressed and faces rearwardly and its projections 2t disengage the projections 8 on the arm 7, which latter abuts through its lower hook-shaped end 9 against the abutment rod 17 under the action of the strap M942 subjected in its turn to the action of the springs 14.

When the skier has brought the tip of his shoe into engagement with the abutment 22 secured to the ski (FIG. 1), he exerts a tractional stress on the lever 18 so as to urge it upwardly and to bring it approximately into the position illustrated in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 4. It is then sufficient to act on the lever 18 to make it exert a downwardly directed pressure on the strap 5 and to make it engage the upper edge of the heel after which the lever 18 is turned down rearwardly, which brings the projections 20 on said lever into engagement with the projections 8 on the arm 7 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

It should be remarked that in spite of the large stress exerted on the heel by the strap 5 with a view to holding the shoe securely on the ski, the operation of the lever is an easy matter by reason of the ratio between the two arms of said lever and of the reduced slope given to the projections 20 in the sections thereof engaging the projections 8 on the arms 7. Said slope terminates inwardly with a recess as illustrated in FIG. 9, said recess being adapted to engage a projection 8 on the arm 7 when the lever 18 has been completely folded back downwardly. For the last-mentioned position of the lever, all movements of the straps 5 are transmitted to the springs 14 through the agency of the lever 18 including its spindle 19, of the arm 7 including its projections 8 and of the stirrup 10-12.

In the case where the stress exerted upwardly by the heel of the shoe on the strap 5 is larger than the pressure exerted downwardly by the springs 14 on said same strap through the agency of the above-mentioned parts 18-19, 7-8 and 10-12, said strap 5 moves angularly around the spindle 4 in the direction of the arrow 23 (FIG. 6) and releases the heel of the shoe. Obviously, the downwardly directed action exerted by the strap 5 on the heel of the shoe is directly proportional to the power of the springs 14 and this power may be increased or reduced by screwing the nuts 16 to a more or less considerable extent over the threaded ends of the stirrup 10-12 with a View to allowing the tensionin-g means to be adjusted according to the requirements of the skier.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a ski, the provision of an arrangement securing a skiers shoe heel to the ski, comprising a forwardly facing hood-shaped support rigid with the ski, a transverse horizontal spindle carried by said support, a heel grip adapted to pivot around the axis of said spindle and to engage the upper rear edge of the skiers shoe, a control lever pivotally secured to said grip, a securing member directed rearwardly and adapted to pivot around the axis of said spindle, cooperating projections on the lever and on said member to operatively interengage said lever and said member, a stirrup coupled with the securing member and including two threaded legs extending rearwardly through the support, nuts fitted adjustably over said threaded legs, a plate extending over the front ends of the nuts, springs fitted between said plate and the rear surface of the support to adjust the position of the securing member through the stirrup to hold the latter in a position for which the lever holds the grip engaged thereby in its operative heel-engaging position as long as the thrust exerted by the heel on the grip does not rise above a predetermined value.

2. In combination with a ski, the provision of an arrangement securing a skiers shoe heel to the ski, comprising a forwardly facing hood-shaped support rigid with the ski, a transverse horizontal spindle carried by said support, a heel grip adapted to pivot around the axis of said spindle and to engage the upper rear edge of the skiers shoe, a control lever pivotally secured to said grip and adapted to be shifted between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, a securing member directed rearwardly and adapted to pivot around the axis of said spindle, cooperating projections on the lever and on said member to operatively interengage said lever and said member, a stirrup coupled with the securing member and including two threaded legs extending rearwardly through the support, nuts fitted adjustably over said threaded legs, a plate extending over the front ends of the nuts, springs fitted between said plate and the rear surface of the support to adjust the position of the securing member through the stirrup to hold the latter in a position for which the lever set in its operative position holds the grip engaged thereby in its operative heel-engaging position as long as the thrust exerted by the heel on the grip does not rise above a predetermined value, and a rod screwed into the support to project by an adjustable extent to the front of the latter and adapted to engage the securing member to define its operative position and consequently that of the grip for the lower operative position of the lever.

3. In combination with a ski, means for securing a skiers shoe heel to the ski, said means comprising a support rigid with the ski, a heel grip pivotally secured to said support for vertical swinging movement about a fixed horizontal axis, means on said heel grip to engage the upper rear edge of the skiers shoe, a control lever mounted on said grip for pivotal movement relative to said grip about a horizontal axis fixed relative to said grip and spaced from said fixed horizontal axis, a securing member pivotally mounted on said support for vertical swinging movement about said fixed horizontal axis, means on said securing member engaged by said lever during operation thereof, and spring means acting between the support and the securing member.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, and an abutment adjustably secured to the support and projecting to the front of the support to engage the securing member to define the operative position of the securing member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,851,278 9/1958 Bulenbach 280-4134 3,125,349 3/1964 Schweizer 280-1l.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,363,150 1/1963 France.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

J. H. BRANNEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A SKI, THE PROVISION OF AN ARRANGEMENT SECURING A SKIER''S SHOE HEEL TO THE SKI, COMPRISING A FORWARDLY FACING HOOD-SHAPED SUPPORT RIGID WITH THE SKI, A TRANSVERSE HORIZONTAL SPINDLE CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT, A HEEL GRIP ADAPTED TO PIVOT AROUND THE AXIS OF SAID SPINDLE AND TO ENGAGE THE UPPER REAR EDGE OF THE SKIER''S SHOE, A CONTROL LEVER PIVOTALLY SECURED TO SAID GRIP, A SECURING MEMBER DIRECTED REARWARDLY AND ADAPTED TO PIVOT AROUND THE AXIS OF SAID SPINDLE, COOPERATING PROJECTIONS ON THE LAYER AND ON SAID MEMBER TO OPERATIVELY INTERENGAGE SAID LEVER AND SAID MEMBER, A STIRRUP COUPLED WITH THE SECURING MEMBER AND INCLUDING TWO THREADED LEGS EXTENDING REARWARDLY THROUGH THE SUPPORT, NUTS FITTED ADJUSTABLY OVER SAID THREADED LEGS, A PLATE EXTENDING OVER THE FRONT ENDS OF THE NUTS, SPRING FITTED BETWEEN SAID PLATE AND THE REAR SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT TO ADJUST THE POSITION OF THE SECURING MEMBER THROUGH THE STIRRUP TO HOLD THE LATTER IN A POSITION FOR WHICH THE LEVER HOLDS THE GRIP ENGAGED THEREBY IN ITS OPERATIVE HEEL-ENGAGING POSITION AS LONG AS THE THRUST EXERTED BY THE HEEL ON THE GRIP DOES NOT RISE ABOVE A PREDETERMINED VALUE. 